US officials briefed that the US President was still considering aggressive military action as he declared his support for talks to reach a ceasefire. Photo / US Navy
US officials briefed that the US President was still considering aggressive military action as he declared his support for talks to reach a ceasefire. Photo / US Navy
United States President Donald Trump’s five-day deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz will end on the same day that thousands of US marines are expected to arrive in the Middle East.
The US President told reporters that he would “see how” negotiations went and ifa deal was not agreed, “we’ll just keep bombing our little hearts out”.
But the entry of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit gives Trump the option of launching a ground operation, alongside a continuation of air strikes against the regime.
The USS Tripoli will arrive on Saturday, with roughly 2200 marines on board, under the control of US Central Command, which is responsible for US forces in the Middle East, according to the Wall Street Journal.
It is expected to take a few more days for the ship to reach the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has closed to its usual traffic of tankers carrying around 20% of the world’s oil supply.
The Pentagon has ordered a second marine unit, also composed of around 2500 personnel, to depart from its base in California and head to the Middle East.
The 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which operates from the USS Boxer and its amphibious ready group, left California last week and could reach the theatre by mid-April, the Journal reported.
Today it emerged that Trump is set to order a unit from the elite 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East.
The brigade combat team is trained to parachute into hostile environments and can be deployed anywhere around the world within 24 hours. It will be deployed alongside the division headquarters, the Journal reported.
US officials briefed that the US President was still considering aggressive military action as he declared his support for talks to reach a ceasefire.
Options include an operation to capture Kharg Island, the outcrop in the north of the Gulf through which Iran exports about 90% of its oil, as well as a raid to capture Iran’s stock of highly enriched uranium.
Analysts and experts have speculated that further targets for potential seizure are Qeshm Island, Kish Island and Hormuz Island, which house various military supplies and economic infrastructure.
However, both the negotiations and any military operation will demand heavy sacrifices from the US, analysts warn.
Iran has demanded compensation for the damage caused by US strikes, as well as a firm guarantee that any ceasefire will be permanent.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has conveyed to Arab mediators that it intended to charge any ship that crosses the Strait of Hormuz, as Egypt does in the Suez Canal.
Having established that it can strangle the world economy through the strait, the regime is unlikely to agree to terms that do not leave it in a strengthened position compared with before the war.
Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s Foreign Minister, has already called for the end of US sanctions before the strait is reopened.
Previously, this was a carrot that Washington would offer only after Tehran had complied with strict limits on its nuclear programme.
Kharg Island is Iran's main oil export terminal. Some experts say that seizing Kharg Island will be US President Donald Trump's next move, but doing so now would risk the lives of more US troops. Photo / Getty Images
‘Difficult set of options’
“Trump faces a difficult set of options,” said Danny Citroniwicz, the former head of the Iran branch at the research and analysis division in Israel’s military intelligence.
“Reaching a deal would require meaningful concessions to the Iranian regime on core issues,” he wrote on X.
“Alternatively, military options, whether strikes on infrastructure, limited operations (e.g. Kharg Island), or broader moves such as controlling the Strait of Hormuz that would be highly complex and carry no guarantee of success.”
To seize Kharg Island, the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit could land troops on the island either by sea or air.
US air strikes have destroyed runways on the island, meaning that any airborne operation would involve the use of helicopters or F-35B fighter jets that can land on uneven ground.
Marines could then repair the strips to allow for the further delivery of men and material, potentially through the use of cargo planes such as the C-130.
However, the troops would be exposed to Iranian missile fire and any operation could extract a high cost in blood.
But elements of the arsenal have survived, and the success rate of Tehran’s missile strikes has increased in recent days, even if the overall level of fire has fallen dramatically since the start of the war.
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